Commanding officer of the Coastal Executive area on San Pedro, Luis Castellanos has been reposted and is currently holding over the Staff Officer Desk in Belize City. Unofficial reports say he will be transferred to Belmopan to replace retiring Commander Administration Joaquin Sabal. When we spoke to Castellanos this evening he said the commissioner only told him of this plan but again it is not official as yet.

Now, there has been a spike in crime on San Pedro recently and some may speculate that perhaps Castellanos's removal is attributable to this. Today Senior Superintendent ånd Deputy Commander Eastern Division Edward Broaster dispelled that notion.

Castellanos has served as Commanding officer on San Pedro for about 2 years and says it has been a rewarding experience. He says one of his greatest accomplishments on the island is building an 8 room wooden structure each with its own bathroom for the officers.

Police Crackdown on Crime in San Pedro

Edward Broaster

Whether in fact the crime spike on the island triggered the replacement of Castellanos or not, the incidents have given a black-eye on the prime tourism destination in the country. Since the start of 2015, there have already been five murders in that municipality: the execution of Honduran national, Silvia Carmen Benitez; the double murder of Benjamin Molina and Selvin Chi, who were buried in a shallow grave up the northern coast; the murder of two year old Daniel Espat in the ongoing drug war and the killing of shop-owner, Pablito Barboza. Aside from the murders, there have been several other shootings on the island as well as death threats allegedly made against Minister Manuel Heredia and Mayor Daniel Guerrero. Senior Superintendent Edward Broaster spoke of measures being implemented to deal with crime on the island.

Duane Moody

“Can you at least talk to us about what will be done to address the crime situation on the island?”

“Well I can tell you already that the crime situation has been addressed. They have placed myself out there in the interim until they find a suitable person to go out there and take over San Pedro. We have been acquiring the necessary resources needed to police especially the lagoon area. We are looking at acquiring some jet skis and possibly hover crafts and drones as well to patrol the north portion of San Pedro. Also we’ve been having community meetings with the public and trying to establish neighborhood watch groups in other areas of San Pedro especially in the San Pedrito and the San Juan and San Mateo areas.”

I'm not so sure claiming the construction of the barracks as your crowning achievement is a good career move...

Especially considering where most of the funds came from

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We have been hearing for many years that a posting at the SP police department is considered a hardship posting. Cost of living is high, officers are far from their families and cannot easily go see them (water taxi is costly compared to a bus etc) and the living conditions were horrible. Common thinking was that given how little the officers are paid, and the difficult conditions of their posting.... That it morale is/ was understandably low and motivation to do the right thing was minimal. People suspected that for a time the only reason to be out here was to participate in graft. Community leaders and police officials agreed that we can't very well ask for respect and hard work if we are not able or willing to create a positive environment.

The barracks were a foundational move towards rebuilding the police service on our island.